Langton’s Selection ^2Best’s Thomson Family Shiraz, ^4Best’s Bin O Shiraz, Best’s Centenary Shiraz, Best’s FHT Shiraz
The history of Best’s goes back to 1893 when William Thomson purchased a vineyard (the first vines were planted in 1868) and winery at Rhymney. This property was subsequently renamed St Andrew’s to acknowledge the Thomson Family’s Scottish origins. Frederick Thomson acquired the property from his father in 1911 and in 1920 purchased Best’s Concongella Vineyard at Great Western originally planted in 1866. The Great Depression forced the Thomsons off their land but by the early 1930s the family was back in control again through both dogged persistence and luck. The Thomson family are inextricably linked to Great Western. Viv Thomson is the fourth generation to run the family business. The Best's Thompson Family Reserve Shiraz is one of Victoria's greatest wines and represents a window to Australia's winemaking past. Like Henschke Hill of Grace and Penfolds Block 42 in the Barossa Valley, the Best's Concongella Vineyard 1860s plantings at Great Western belong to Australia's rich heritage of ancient genetic and pre-phylloxera vineyards. The 15 rows of dry grown Shiraz vines (well over 140 years old) are the source material for the Thompson Family; a rich generously proportioned Shiraz with brilliant blackberry/meaty fruit underpinned by cedar oak and gravelly tannins. The wine is open-fermented in small ‘tubs’ and then matured in a 50/50 combination of new and old American oak for approximately 24 months. While first released in 1992 (to commemorate a century of winemaking at Best’s) this wine is a particularly special experience. It was not produced in 1993, 1999, and 2000 reflecting the extreme vicissitudes of grape growing. The severe frosts in October 1998 reduced the 1999 crop dramatically making it impossible to make a Thomson Family Shiraz. However the wine, blended with a component of Best’s Bin O Shiraz and matured in American oak puncheons, was isolated and bottled as Best’s FHT Shiraz. In 2000 the vines simply ran out of steam. The Concongella Vineyard, originally planted in 1866 on sandy limey loams over deep clay, was acquired in 1920. Best’s Bin O Shiraz is sourced from 4 low yielding Concongella Shiraz blocks established in 1966, 1970, 1992 and 1994. Vinification takes place in open stainless steel fermenters with regular plunging. The wine is matured in a combination of 1/3rd new and 1 and 2 year old French and American oak (barriques and puncheons) for a period of around 12 months. In a declassified year, some Thomson Reserve fruit (from some of the oldest Shiraz plantings in Victoria) can be included. Viv Thomson believes that there are two types of wines, “...talking wines and drinking wines”. This is a happy blend of both. It has intense mulberry/blackberry aromas, background oak and loose-knit gravelly tannins developing further complexity with medium term cellaring. Best’s is an impressive small family-owned Australian winery. Andrew Caillard MW, Langton's